After three years, independent Slovakian news site Denník N has grown digital subscribers and long-form journalism

Since its launch in 2015, the newspaper and website Denník N has reached 30,000 digital subscribers — doubling the numbers between 2015 and 2018. Registered readers went from 22,000 in 2015 to 220,000 in 2018, while website visitors have increased to 762,000. Denník N has also seen their paid app base grow, to 10,000 customers in 2018.

The independent media company was formed by Slovak journalists, and now employees 60 people in Slovakia. The content-forward publisher has also increased its focus on both paid articles and long-form journalism. In 2015, 37% of the digital articles were paid. By 2018, 74% of the articles were behind the subscription paywall. The number of articles has gone down, while the average length of each article has increased.

Why it Matters:

The focus of longer, in-depth stories by Denník N — and the increasing subscriber base willing to pay to access them — bodes well for small, independent news publishers. It also continues the mobile-first trend, with more Denník N readers on mobile devices than desktop. They have also launched a number of ancillary, supportive products such as newsletters (nine) and podcasts (with more than 1,350,000 downloads in 2018).

The Bottom Line:

After growing the Slovakia product of Denník N, the company has launched a new website in the Czech Republic, with 43 employees there.

The publisher’s success with its model led it to develop a set of open-source tools to help publishers understand and monetize their audience better, market their content and sell their services. Denník N allows other publishers to use it for free and contribute with their own improvements.